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The curse of the comforter

comforter

M has had a blue elephant comforter called Henry since he was a baby. Being baby number two I knew it was unwise to only have the one comforter so went ahead and purchased a duplicate so we could swap them over to wash. Except….. I didn’t get around to doing this as early on as I liked so by the time I did get round to it… M had turned into full on MI5 agent and just knew the difference from feeling the comforters.

It didn’t matter how hard I tried to get his “scent” onto the new comforter apparently it just wasn’t the same. Granted the fleece on the new one was slightly different and the version I bought was a slightly updated one. So I even went to the extremes of sourcing what I thought was an exact replica of Henry on eBay and smugly thought to myself I’d had it sorted – only…. MI5 agent M had other ideas. He wasn’t having a bar of it and refused them.

I gave up, no matter how hard I tried he just wouldn’t accept the other “replicas” so I would have to sneak washing Henry after his nap and make sure it was dry and ready before bedtime. He is so attached to his comforter that I have always had to make sure it is packed safely in my bag when we go out – I know this is dangerous territory. The absolute fear of ever losing him whilst we are out and about crosses my mind ALL THE TIME but to not have Henry to calm him down when he is screaming the place down or won’t settle seems to outweigh this every time.

Oh the number of times Henry has been dropped when we are out, and the panic and mad dash to retrace our steps ensues… Then last year we really really did lose him and I only realised at bedtime. I thought he was safe in my changing bag…I didn’t know what to do…I called hubby and told him we had a code red situation on our hands. He said he would try and retrace my steps on his way home to see if he could find it.

comforter-lost

That evening was horrible… M took forever to settle and I had to get him to fall asleep on me first before putting him down in his cot. I racked my brains to think of the last time he had Henry when we were out and remembered that I was in a beauty shop earlier that day having my eyebrows done. It was the last time I’d seen M with Henry.

Poor hubby had to take a train out of his way in the hope of finding the comforter, whereby by some utter miracle he could see Henry in the shop window. I don’t think either of us have ever been so damned happy!  The shop was closed though so although we had to survive the night we were safe in the knowledge that we would get him back the next day.

Ever since, we have been very careful whenever M takes his comforter outdoors but his most recent episode is another thing entirely. You see… I “washed” Henry last week – like I do every few weeks when it starts to smell of spit (sooo gross) and look grubby, but the last couple of times I have done this? M has gone mental and has refused to believe the Henry I washed is the same. I tell him that I had to wash him because he was dirty. I even showed him all the other Henry “imposters” so he could see for himself which one was the “real” Henry. Yet I was still met with cries of “Nooooooo…. wash him! Wash him!!” (did I not already tell him that that is what happened?!) It got round to bedtime and the tears started again – he wouldn’t go to sleep because it wasn’t his usual spit smelling Henry… *sigh* He was STILL saying “wash him! wash him!” as if by washing him again would make things any bloody better?!

How did I get here? How did I start being a) ruled by a toddler and b) living in fear of a sodding comforter? How did I manage to let this happen?!

In the end… I had to distract and bribe him with something else in order to calm him down. So what did I do? I let him have Scout a bloody talking bear that he now cannot go to sleep without… what HAVE I done?!

Someone pass me the gin.

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About The Author

Picture of Maria
Hello and welcome to Suburban Mum! I'm Maria and I'm mum to two boys - E who's 14 and M who's 11. This blog is about my family, the ups and downs of being a working mum and everything in between. If you want to find out more about me and my family head over to our About us page.

23 thoughts on “The curse of the comforter”

  1. kimmie stuckinscared

    I shouldn’t laugh… especially as Iv’e lived this nightmare (many moons ago) different child, different comforter, same nightmare o_O

    I hope your Littlie moves on to a non verbal comforter (or no comforter at all) very soon 🙂

    Great post!

    Reply
  2. Zoe dunn

    Love this post especially the last line of pass the gin………we’ve all thought it! I have had a similar situation with my youngest son he’s no 7 and still sleeps with bunny. She’s far from her younger, chipper self and has many modifications, button eye (just the one) and a bespoke eye patch from the pirate phase but he loves her all the same. There’s just no standing between a child and their comfort thingy……whatever it may be. Good luck #brilliantblogpost

    Reply
  3. hannah walker

    I feel your pain! My daughter has a fleece blanket that she walks around with like Iggle piggle all day and has it at night time/nap time. I have left the house without it once or twice…. sigh Not good days! x

    Reply
    1. Suburban Mum

      That’s exactly what M is like Hannah – walks around with it like Iggle Piggle and if he doesn’t have it I always get asked “Where’s Henang (Henry) gone?!

      Reply
  4. das100

    I so know where you are coming from but our son has arrived at his later in life (3) When he was a baby there was nothing that he bonded with but last year he got given a dragon that now goes everywhere! We are struggling to find a replacement for a just in case scenario like yours. The curse of the soft toy! xx

    Reply
    1. Suburban Mum

      Oh no! Do you think the older they are the harder it is to “remove” these comfort toys? My oldest (5) still has one too but luckily its only for bed time. How and when do we start weaning them off them?!

      Reply
  5. Caroline

    I’m really sorry to laugh but this does make me chuckle! Monkey has his Doggy Bear and a few replicas. Initially he was a bit wary of them but now they rotate in and out of use pretty well and we are sticking to the lie, there’s only one doggy bear… Now waiting to see what LM may get attached to and running out to buy replicas immediately! Hoping it isn’t the bunny her grandparents got in Germany or I cam see us being in your situation! Xx

    Reply
  6. A Cornish Mum

    Ha dear of him! I know this panic well, Fin had (still has tho he hides it when friends are over!) a dog teddy bear called woof woof who went everywhere with him when he was small, which was sooo cute but a total pain, the dog photo bombed every toddler photo 😉

    Stevie x Thanks for linking up to #PickNMix Fridays

    Reply
  7. Hannah

    Oh you’re not alone! We have a big old blankie that thankfully he stopped taking out about a year and a bit ago phew one less thing to worry about I still have to sneak the washes though as if I’m doing something awful to blankie! It’s got holes in and all sorts as so old (nearly 5 years!) I feel your pain!x #pickandmix

    Reply
    1. Suburban Mum

      Awww I can’t see him ever not wanting at the moment. I have visions of him wanting to take it with him when he starts Reception!! (I really do hope I’ll be proved wrong there!!)

      Reply
  8. Let's Talk Mommy

    I have been there for blankies of B’s and now a little darcy duck for MM. I have actually bought six versions of that little duck for my daughter as we lose so many while traveling and lucky enough I wash them before I give them to her and she never knows the difference. Its the new scent that puts them off. Sometimes best to wash a few times before they even see them. lol Takes the newness out but they like that. lol While B I still can’t find the replica and I don’t know what to do as its almost see through now. lol The dilemmas of babies/toddlers. Good luck with your new replacement hahaha Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme

    Reply
  9. MummyandMonkeys

    Haha sorry but this did make me laugh, kids can be so particular. My now eldest only like 2 blankets and 1 dummie and wouldn’t settle for any others. I had a week old baby and the dummy went missing! I had to bring in the dummy fairy story earlier than I had planned. Thanks so much for linking up to #PickNMix

    Reply
  10. mamamim.com

    Ha ha argh oh I wish I had some advice to share but I’m starting to worry about a similar thing here. Mini has a dummy and I’d like to get rid of it soon but I’m a bit scared about how to do it – but at least it clips on. *passes gin* 🙂 Thank you so much for linking up to #ParentingPicks! Mim x

    Reply
  11. @aNoviceMum

    I’ve heard tales about this curse :-). I’m the comforter at our house and that comes with its own challenges. I just never got my head around the use of cloth comforters, the few we have serve as just another toy and dummies were never accepted. So, my little man is stuck with me and I think sometimes, he would like that literarily 🙂 Good one. #blogbounce

    Reply

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